Some doctors say most Alberta parents are opposing vitamin K injections for newborns
Some doctors in Alberta say they’re seeing a recent and worrying trend that new parents are either questioning or refusing vitamin K injections, which have been given to newborns as standard practice for decades.
canadian kids living routineEven vitamin shots Because they are usually born with low levels of the vitamin, which is important for blood clotting to prevent serious bleeding.
Canadian Pediatric SocietyAlong with other high-profile medical organizations, it recommends all infants get vaccinated within six hours of birth.
“I’ve seen a significant increase in the number of people saying they don’t want to give their baby vitamin K,” said Dr. Stephanie Cooper, a high-risk obstetrician based in Calgary.
Cooper said parents tell her they don’t trust injections, but they are unable to explain why.
Others are falling victim to misinformation on social media platforms like TikTok, she said, and some parents mistakenly believe the injections cause autism.
“I’m concerned because this is one of many things where people are making choices about medical decisions … and using sources of information that are not based on science or experience or evidence,” he said, adding that he has seen a change over the past few years.
“There will be people who will potentially follow this trend… and there will be tragedies as a result.”
risk of severe bleeding
Babies are usually born with low levels of vitamin K, one of the factors needed for blood clotting, because there is very little blood flowing through the cord. Breast milk does not provide significant amounts of vitamin K, and it takes time for infants to develop the ability to produce their own vitamin K.
Calgary pediatrician Dr. Carah Bouma said vitamin K injections have been given safely for decades.
“This has been the standard of care in Canada since the ’80s and has been recommended since the ’60s,” he said.
According to Bouma, who works at the Peter Lougheed Centre, Alberta Children’s Hospital and in a community practice, infants who do not receive the vitamin K shot given into the thigh muscle are at risk of spontaneous bleeding.
“I am deeply concerned that babies may suffer complications from serious and preventable side effects, such as severe intestinal bleeding, severe brain bleeding, which could lead to the child having lifelong cerebral palsy or requiring ICU-level care,” Bouma said.
Doctors warn that bleeding can also occur during procedures such as circumcision or tongue-tie reversal.
according to US Centers for Disease ControlA condition known as vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB) can develop any time in the first six months of an infant’s life, causing brain damage and even death.
“If a child has a stroke because they don’t have enough vitamin K, we can’t go back and reverse that stroke. We can’t reverse the injury that happened,” Cooper said.
While most of Bouma’s family agrees with the vitamin shot, there is growing hesitation among them.
“Over the past year, I’ve met a number of families who didn’t want injections; they wanted oral medication,” he said.
Those parents are also refusing drops offered through the hospital pharmacy and choosing to take them themselves, she said, which is also a concern for them.
The Canadian Pediatric Society recommends an injection instead of drops, which are to be given for several weeks. It warns that parents should be mindful that the drops are not as effective, and children receiving them are still at risk of bleeding, including in the brain.
Bouma said a lack of trust appears to be at the root of the resistance she’s seeing.
“Its safety profile is excellent. There are really no downsides to giving vitamin K and there are really no side effects other than the injection itself,” he said, adding that those side effects may include some pain and bruising at the injection site.
US organization notes that vitamin K denial has increased
Another high-profile medical organization, the American Academy of Pediatrics, noted growing resistance from parents.
“In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of parents refusing to take (vitamin injections) for their newborns and this has resulted in an increase in the number of cases of late-onset VKDB,” the association said in a 2022 policy statement.
“Because VKDB is a relatively rare phenomenon, most families are unaware of the serious consequences of the disease and are at risk of denial when they should be counseled.”
Publicly available data shows vitamin K levels in Alberta newborns could increase from 92.76 per cent in 2007 to 95.71 per cent in 2023.
CBC News asked Alberta Health Services and the province for recent data. Neither gave any answer.
Older data shows a decline in offtake in the South region (97.3 per cent in 2007 to 94.05 per cent in 2023). The northern region remained relatively stable with a rate of 93.9 percent in 2023 and 94.04 percent in 2007. The remaining sectors saw overall growth.
The province identified a similar concern. A decade ago, clusters of high denial rates were highlighted in Grand Prairie County in the Northern Region, the Cochrane and Springbank areas in the Calgary Region, and Red Deer County in the Central Region.
At that time, recommendations were made to increase education of parents about the health risks associated with vitamin K deficiency.
